


i’m in love with a dense idiot

by citruscake



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Slice of Life, basically everyone falls in love with johnny and he doesn’t realize it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2019-08-23 07:56:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16614968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citruscake/pseuds/citruscake
Summary: a collection of nct college au drabbles where everyone falls in love with johnny, but he doesn’t catch on





	1. library (johnil)

Taeil is sitting in the library, bent over the table, eyes skimming through several paragraphs about Jupiter, when he notices someone sit down in the chair in front of him.

He looks up briefly and recognizes his best friend, Johnny, smiling and waving at him. He pulls out his headphones and greets the photographer with a soft smile.

"Studying hard, I see." Johnny says, wrapping up his earbuds and shoving them into his pocket.

Taeil leans back and sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I've read this page about four times, but the information isn't sticking."

"Maybe this will help." Johnny places a to-go cup in front of his textbook, earning a look of confusion from the astronomer.

"Green tea?" He asks. Johnny nods.

"It's your favorite, isn't it? I figured you would need it since you have a big test coming up soon." Johnny props his feet up on the chair next to him, opening his phone and mindlessly scrolling through Twitter. "I feel so bad sometimes, you know. I see all of you studying so hard and then there's me, the art major, with no homework whatsoever."

Taeil takes the lid off of the to-go cup, closing his eyes and deeply inhaling the scent of the green tea. Despite everything, he feels at home.

"Thanks, Johnny. I appreciate it."

"Anything for my favorite hyung."

"I'm your only hyung."

Taeil rolls his eyes at the photographer's finger guns and goes back to studying. Ten minutes pass before he looks up from his textbook again, to his best friend.

Johnny's sipping on an iced americano in the middle of November, and he seems like he doesn't have a single care in the world. He's looking at his phone through hooded lids, eyes widening as he reads whatever dumb shit is on Twitter that afternoon.

A hint of a smile peeks from the corner of Taeil's mouth. Johnny catches on immediately and puts his phone down, squinting at the astronomer.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Johnny doesn't believe him, instead standing up and stretching. He disappears without a word, like he always does, and Taeil goes back to studying in peace.

The photographer returns with a book, propping his legs back up on the chair and cracking it open, reading silently. Taeil squints as he reads the title of the book.

"Vampires and Psychology? Is this for a class?" He questions, and the photographer just shakes his head in reply.

"I was thinking earlier,"

"I'm glad you’re thinking."

"Shut up. I was thinking earlier, where did vampires come from? Why is the world so obsessed with them? So I started looking for books while I was in class." Johnny grins. "Everything ties back to psychology anyway, right?"

"Ask Doyoung, he's the psych major." Taeil cracks a smile as Johnny pouts back at him.

Silence returns as they both fall back into their reading, Taeil scribbling into his notebook every now and then, and Johnny putting the book down to reply to a text or check a tweet. Another ten minutes pass, and Taeil watches as Johnny's expression completely pales, and then a deep blush blooms on his cheeks.

Johnny puts the book down permanently, hands covering his face in embarrassment. Taeil raises a brow in question.

"What did you just learn, Johnathan?"

"…. I don't like vampires anymore, Taeil hyung."

"Why?"

"I can't say. It's dirty."

"Johnny, you are twenty four years old. You can say it."

"No I can't. There's kids around."

Taeil rolls his eyes, but he's smiling anyway. He can't help but admire his best friend for somehow staying innocent all throughout high school and college. Although, to be fair, that wasn't the only thing he admired about him, but Taeil wasn't about to get into that.

There's about a minute of Johnny covering his face, presumably to make the blush go away, and then he lets out a quick sigh and picks up the book again, continuing to read. Taeil continues to watch his expression change possibly too much for someone reading a non-fiction book, and he finds himself admiring his best friend once again.

Maybe it was the way he carried himself, or the way he wasn't afraid to be himself. Maybe it was the way he treated others, the way he would do anything to get a smile out of the young ones. He wasn't sure what it was, but somewhere in the eight years Taeil had known Johnny, he had fallen in love with him.

Johnny, being a complete mess of a man at times, didn't need to know about this crush, however. Taeil was almost positive that Johnny never saw him as anything but his best friend, and he wasn't about to ruin the most rewarding friendship of his life by revealing his crush.

“What?”

Taeil snaps out of it as he realizes he’s been caught, two beady eyes staring back at him. He says nothing and offers a smile.

Maybe one day he’ll tell him. But for now, this was more than enough. 


	2. pier (johnyong)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's the end of their junior year, and taeyong reflects on his life and decides to take a chance.

Taeyong's eyes follow the steady lull of the aves, legs swinging over the edge of the pier. He shuts his eyes as the ocean breeze runs through his hair, sighing deeply as he takes in all the energy the water has to offer him. 

 

It's the end of the semester, and their junior year of college passed in the blink of an eye. Taeyong didn't expect it to go so quickly; of course, it seems like he spent an eternity in each lecture. That's just a given when you're in college, feeling like you're wasting your life away with so many opportunities mere inches from your grasp. 

 

He opens his eyes, sighing and figuring he shouldn't lament about missed opportunities. After all, the squad came out here to celebrate the end of the semester. Shouldn't he be out with the rest of them, riding the rides on the boardwalk, and enjoying the various fried foods? 

 

It's not his style. He loves his friends, but there's way too many people out there. Too much noise. He'd rather sit on his ass and stare at the ocean. 

 

"Ice cream?" 

 

Taeyong blinks at the surprise voice suddenly manifesting next to him, and when he turns to look up, Johnny's offering him a vanilla ice cream cone. His favorite. Taeyong smiles and takes it, and Johnny sits down next to him. 

 

Neither of them say a word, opting to sit in silence and watch the waves as they enjoy their ice cream. Taeyong lets the cold of the ice cream in combination with the familiarity of vanilla take him somewhere far away from here.  

 

He wants to say something to Johnny, but suddenly he can't. What would he even say? Was there even anything to say? He looks over to the man next to him, whose true expression is masked by his sunglasses.  He watches in horror as Johnny takes a huge bite of his pistachio ice cream and doesn't even react to the cold.  

 

Despite the chaotic, confusing mess that is Johnny, somehow Taeyong fell for him anyway. Maybe it was  _because_ he's a chaotic, confusing mess. As he looks at him, his heart aches. He knows Johnny is  _dense,_ and probably never saw him as anything more than a friend, but he still doesn't want to lose him. 

 

It was inevitable, though. They're about to start their last year of college at UNCT, and then once they graduate, Johnny's going straight back to Chicago. Taeyong knew their lives were about to change forever... and he knew he'd have to say something eventually, or his heart would regret it.  

 

"You okay, Taeyong? You seem a little bit..." Johnny crunches on his ice cream cone. "Pensive." 

 

Taeyong takes a deep breath. "I'm just thinking about how we're finally college seniors. It feels like it took forever to get to this point." 

 

"Yep. Three years of our lives, gone." Johnny pushes his sunglasses up, exposing his forehead. "Crazy to think that our lives are so close to changing." 

 

"Yeah.." Taeyong looks over to him. Johnny hasn't stopped staring at the ocean. "You're going to go back home once you graduate, aren't you?" 

 

"I am. I haven't seen my family in a long time, and it feels like Chicago would be the perfect place for me to open my own photography studio." He makes a hashtag gesture at Taeyong and grins. "#Johntography, coming soon." 

 

Oh, this fucking idiot.  

 

"I'm going to come back to NCITY, of course." He smiles at Taeyong, pointing finger guns. "This place is my home, too. I can't just abandon every memory I've made here, and every person I've come to love and cherish in my time at UNCT." 

 

Taeyong feels an arrow shoot through his heart. He has to do it now. 

 

"Johnny, I love you." He blurts out. 

 

Johnny cocks his head like a confused puppy. Taeyong's eyebrow twitches. 

 

"A lot." 

 

"I love you too, Taeyong. I'm glad I met you our freshman year, you've been such a good friend to me." Johnny smiles and pats him on the shoulder, and in that moment, Taeyong feels his heart shatter to a thousand pieces. 

 

Johnny is an absolute fucking idiot, and Taeyong wants to cry. Maybe it was.. It just wasn't meant to be. 

 

Taeyong lets out a quick laugh and looks to the sky, holding back tears. He knew this was coming, but it didn't change the fact that it still hurt like a bitch.  

 

"Are you okay?" Johnny asks, concerned. Taeyong side eyes him and nods.  

 

"I just, realized some things," he replies. "Sometimes the best thing to do when you love someone, is just let them go." 

 

They say nothing, opting to watch the sun set instead. Taeyong feels a little awkward after his confession, but he knows Johnny didn't even catch on. There really is nothing left for him to do but .. let the man go. 

 

"How fitting," Johnny remarks, "The sun sets on our junior year."  

 

Taeyong shakes his head. "That was stupid." 

 

"No it wasn't. It was poetry." 

 

"Was not." 

 

"You'll understand when you're older." 

 

"We're the same age!" 

 

Both of them start laughing, any tense air from before completely gone. As if on cue, Jaehyun and Mark run up to them, the sound of footsteps on wood adding to the cadence of the ocean.  

 

"Are you guys done being emo yet?" Mark asks, poking fun at them. "Taeil is sunburnt, and Yuta wants to get bubble tea!" 

 

"Oh my god, really?" Johnny laughs even harder for a moment, then looks to Taeyong. "Yeah, I think we're ready to go." 

 

Taeyong just nods, eyes drifting towards Jaehyun. He swears he sees a hint of blush on the younger boy's cheeks as he looks away, smiling softly into his shoulder. 

 

He breaks into a smile.  

 

Maybe Taeyong didn't have Johnny. Maybe he didn't ever have him in the first place. But that doesn't mean all is lost. 

 

After all, when one door closes, another opens.  

 

He'd be just fine. 


End file.
